Abstract

MARTINEZ M., FABIO ERNESTO; MIRANDA, DIEGO  and  MAGNITSKIY, STANISLAV. Germination temperature of sugar apple (Annona squamosa L.) seeds. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2012, vol.6, n.2, pp.129-139. ISSN 2011-2173.

Sexual propagation of the sugar apple is the most used type by producers in Colombia; however, one of the principal crop problems is low and irregular seed germination. This research aimed to establish the optimum germination temperature for seeds of Annona squamosa L. In the Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agronomy, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, seeds from Apulo (Cundinamarca) and Castilla (Tolima) accessions were planted in peat substrate trays without nutrients and subsequently placed in a phytotron chamber (relative humidity of 60%, without light) for 30 days with two constant temperature regimes: 30 and 35°C and two alternating temperature regimes: 30/20°C and room temperature (mean: 18.7°C, max: 22.9°C, min: 17.3°C). The response of germination percentage (GP), every 5 days for 30 days, synchronization index (E), mean germination time (MGT) and mean velocity of germination (MVG) were tested. The maximum germination rate was obtained at a constant temperature of 35°C with seeds from Cundinamarca and Tolima (58% and 57%, respectively), at this temperature, a lower MGT (18.41 days in Cundinamarca and 17.09 days in Tolima), greater MVG (0.035 and 0.040 germinated seeds/day in Cundinamarca and Tolima, respectively) and lower synchronization index (0.29 and 0.33 in Cundinamarca and Tolima, respectively) were seen, suggesting that 35°C is the optimum germination temperature for A. squamosa seeds.

Keywords : sexual propagation; synchronization index; optimum temperature.

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